Fitch downgrades 200 hybrid insurance bonds 01 February 2010 7:03PM Philip Bayley Fitch lowered the ratings on more than two hundred preferred and hybrid capital securities of issuers in the insurance sector to implement revised guidelines for rating preferred stock and hybrid securities that Fitch published recently. The new guidelines apply to instruments issued by companies in all sectors, including banks, insurers, non-bank financial institutions, and non-financial corporate entities. Implementation of the new guidelines has typically resulted in downgrades of one notch for many deferrable instruments that are currently performing, while those performing hybrids with more material loss absorption provisions or with triggers for loss absorption that are easily triggered were subject to a two notch (or greater) downgrade. Included among the rating actions were AXA SA's A$750 million of October 2016 perpetual/callable hybrid securities outstanding in the domestic market and QBE's ₤300 million perpetual/callable hybrid security. Both were downgraded to 'BBB' from 'BBB+'.